Thomas Rhett + Kelsea Ballerini ‘Excited’ to Return as 2019 ‘CMA Fest’ TV Special Hosts
Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini will once again return to host the 2019 CMA Fest TV special, a three-hour event airing Sunday (Aug. 4) and featuring highlights from the June festival. This year is the third time that Rhett and Ballerini have shared hosting duties for the special, and backstage during CMA Fest 2019, the two stars agreed that they think they've got the job mastered -- especially after reviewing their performances from 2018 and 2017.
"We watched ourselves again ... before we started [this year's hosting segments]. We decided that the first year, we were a little too casual about it, and last year, we were like, 'Oh my God! Welcome to the stage!' -- just too extra," Ballerini explains. "So we decided this year just to talk like we normally would talk."
In 2019, the pair will have hosting help from country radio DJ Bobby Bones. "It's been really cool to kinda hang with Bobby and Kelsea together," Rhett says. "Every year I feel like we get more comfortable in front of a camera. I think, the first couple of years, we were really learning what it meant to improvise on this stuff when plans kinda change, with TV, but I'm excited."
For its 16th consecutive year, the primetime CMA Fest: The Music Event of Summer TV special will air some of the most memorable moments and performances from the 2019 festival. The show will include more than 30 performances from CMA Fest 2019's nightly shows at Nissan Stadium, including songs from Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Brooks & Dunn, Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus and many more.
CMA Fest will air on Aug. 4 at 8PM ET on ABC.
LOOK: See the Fun at CMA Fest 2019